Refrigerating apparatus having a freezing chamber and a storage chamber



Get 111, 1949.. w. E. RICHARD HEFRIGERATING APPARATUS HAVING A FREEZINGCHAMBER AND A STORAGE CHAMBER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 14, 1947INVENTOR.

' 2,4455% RATUS HAVING A FREEZING EPD G C I R F E R Filed Feb. 14, 19472 Sheets-Sheet 2 iNVENTOR. mm? 6f 1 Patented Oct. 11, 1949 2,484,588BEFRIGERATING APPARATUS HAVING A FREEZING CHAMB CHAMBER ER AND A STORAGEWilliam E. Richard, Evansville, Ind., assignor to Seeger RefrigeratorCompany,

inncsota a corporation of Application February 14, 1947, Serial No.728,491

The present invention relates to refrigerators, and is particularlyconcerned with a refrigerator of the household type which is not onlyadapted for the cooling and preserving of food products to a temperatureabove freezing, but is also adapted to freeze ice cubes and to freezeand store in the frozen condition foodstuffs of all kinds which areadaptable for this type of preservation.

One of the objects of the present invention is the provision of arefrigerator of the class described, in which there is a separatecompartment for freezing foods and maintaining them at a temperaturebelow freezing and another compartment adapted to be maintained at atemperature above freezing and adapted to be maintained at apredetermined humidity so that the food stored in the latter compartmentmay not be dried'out.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improvedrefrigerator construction, in which the freezing compartment is locatedin the lowermost part of the cabinet and the moderately cooled, foodstorage compartment is located in the upper part of the cabinet, eachcompartment having its' own separate door so that only the one to whichaccess is desired need be opened, but when both are opened for transferof food from one to the other, there will be no tendency for the coldair in the lower compartment to spill out and pass into the uppercompartment or vice versa, as the warmer air is already above and thecolder air is already below.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved methodof controlled dehydration which results in the continuous dehydration ofthe insulation, removal of frost from the walls of the lower freezingcompartment, and removal of a predetermined amount of moisture from theair of the upper humid compartment so as to avoid excessive humidity bycausing the excess moisture to accumulate upon a special dehydrationcoil operated at a, lower temperature than either evaporator.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improvedrefrigerator construction of the class described which is simple, whichmay be manufactured economically, which is adapted to be servicedreadily and which is adapted to maintain a uniform temperaturethroughout each compartment, and in some embodiments which is providedwith a removable refrigeration apparatus.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an .improvedrefrigerator apparatus of the class described, including provision fordefrosting the dehydration coil, the said means consist- 14 Claims. (0].62-103) ing of a bypass conduit and a shut-off valve whereby the bypassvalve may be opened and the conduit leading past the dehydration coilmay be opened to bypass the refrigerant around said dehydration coil toeffect the defrosting.

Another object of the invention isthe provision of an improvedrefrigerator of the class described, which is provided with a lowerfreezing compartment and an upper high-humidity compartment in which thelower compartment is cooled by means of evaporator coils applied to theoutside of the liner, and the upper compartment is cooled by means of asecondary system having evaporator coils applied to the outside of theliner and provided with a secondary condenser that is disposed in heatconducting relation with a second primary evaporator located inside theupper compartment and adapted to accumulate frost to effect apredetermined amount of dehumidification and to avoid excessive humidityin the high-humidity compartment, the said second primary evaporatoralso serving to accomplish continuous dehydration of the insulation, andprogressive defrosting of the lower compartment by migration of themoisture from all parts of the refrigerator cabinet to the coldest coilin the upper compartment.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and the accompanying drawings, in which similarcharacters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the severalviews.

Referring to the drawings of which there are two sheets,

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic elevational view of the elements of therefrigeration system;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the cabinet shown in connectionwith the refrigeration system, taken on a plane located just inside andparallel to the right wall of the cabinet; and

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the refrigerator with the doorsremoved, showing the arrangement of the evaporator coils in bothcompartments and the arrangement of the dehydration coil in the uppercompartment.

Referring to Fig. 1, the present refrigeration apparatus preferablyincludes a motor compressor III of the sealed type, a condenser II and afloat controlled valve chamber l2 for compressing, condensingandcontrolling the flow of the refrigerant.

The condenser II is connected to the outlet of the motor compressor l0,and in turn has its outlet connected to the inlet of the float chamberII. The system includes two evaporators or evaporator sections indicatedat N and I4 with a difthe tapered opening 42, and presentinga finishedferential valve l5 between them for controlling differential in pressurebetween these evaporators.

Evaporator l3 is the primary evaporator for the lower freezing chamberI5, and it has its inlet end I1 connected to the outlet of the floatvalve chamber l2. Its outlet'end I8 is connected through thedifferential valve l5 to the inlet end IQ of the evaporator l4. whichhas its outlet end 20 connected to a header or reservoir 2| that is inturn connected by a relatively larger pipe 22 to the inlet of the motorcompressor.

A by-pass pipe 23 extends from a point below the spring presseddifferential valve l5 to the reservoir receiver 2|, and is provided witha hand valve 24. When this hand valve 24 is opened the evaporator I4 isby-passed and immediately begins to defrost so that defrosting can beaccomplished at any time without stopping the operation of therefrigeration system in so far as the primary evaporator I3 isconcerned.

The upper compartment 25 is the high-humidity compartment, and it iscooled by a secondary system which includes .the secondary evaporator 26and the secondary condenser 21, the latter be-- ing illustrated in thehigh-humidity compartment, but in some embodiments of the invention thesecondary condenser and the evaporator which cools it may be located inthe liner wall or back of it in the insulation, with a suitable defrostdrain.

The secondary system includes the secondary evaporator 26 and thesecondary condenser 2'! which are joined to each other in such mannerthat refrigerant'which evaporates in the evaporator 26 passes to the topthereof, which is connected to the top of the secondary condenser 21where it is cooled and condensed to liquid that runs to the bottom ofsecondary condenser 21 and, thence, to the bottom of secondaryevaporator 26 where it may be used over again.

The secondary condenser 21 is in heat conducting contact with certaincoils of the primary evaporator |4 in the upper chamber 25 so that thisevaporator 00015 21 of the secondary system.

The cabinet, whichis indicated in its entirety by the numeral 3|],consists of an outer shell 3|, a pair of inner liners 32, 33 andinsulation 34 located between them. The outer. shell 3| may consist of atop wall. 35, bottom wall 38, back wall 31, the two side walls 38, 33and front wall 43.

The front wall 4|! is provided with a pair of door apertures 4| and 42leading to the chambers :25 and IS. The outer shell 3| is provided withan inwardly extending supporting flange 43 completely surrounding eachof the openings 4| and 42. d The inner shell 33 comprises a top wall44', bottom appearance without providing heat conducting contact betweenthe liner 33 and outer shell 3|, and without providing any support forthe liner on the shell.

According to the present invention it is not necessaryto effect amoisturetight, liquid tight or air tight seal between the liner 33 andthe shell 3|, as it is contemplated that the dehydration coil will causeany moisture that might gather in the insulation or on the outside ofany liner to travel 'to the dehydration coil i4 located in the upperwall 45, rear wall 48 and the two side walls 41, 48. v

The liner 33 is also provided with an attaching 50 flange 49 completelysurrounding the door opening 42 and extending diagonally outward intosubstantially the same plane as the supporting flange 43 of the outershell 3 I.

At a plurality of regularly spaced points the inner liner 33 issupported on the outer shell 3| by means of a plurality of insulatingblocks 53, which are secured to the flanges 43 and 49 in such manner asto hold the liner 33 in spaced relation to the shell 3|. As this leavesopenings between the-flanges 43 and 49 atspaces where the blocks 50 arenot located, the flanges 43 and 43 may be covered by continuous maskingstrip 5| of insulation, such as fibre board, indurated fibre or a moldedplastic insulated frame tapered to at in chamber 25.

The primary evaporator l3 may be formed out of coils of pipe sinuouslyarranged in heat conducting contact with the outside of the. liner 33,preferably at the bottom 45, top 44, rear wall 46 and side walls 41 and48. This provides a maxi mum cooled wall surface for effecting quickfreezing in the lower chamber and for maintaining the air in thischamber at a temperature around 0 F.

The upper liner 32 also includes a bottom wall 52, top wall 53, rearwall 54and the two side walls 55 and 56. The liner 32 is spaced from theshell 3| and from the liner 33 on all sides sufliciently to provide athickness of insulation 34 adequate to maintain the differential oftemperature which exists between the inside and the outside of thecabinet at the upper chamber 25.

In the same way the lower chamber It, being the colder freezing chamber,and the liner 33 are spaced sufflciently from the walls of the shell 3|to provide a correspondingly greater thickness of insulation 34 adequateto maintain this greater differential of temperature which existsbetween the inside of the freezing chamber l6 and the outside of thecabinet.

The lower wall 36 being close to the motor compressor Ni and condenserthis wall may be made correspondingly thicker. The bottom wall 52 of theupper liner 32 is spaced from the top wall 35 of the lower liner 33sumciently to provide insulation of adequate thickness between these twoliner walls.

The arrangement of the supporting flanges 43 on the shell 3| around todoor opening 4|, carrying, the connecting blocks 50 securing to theattaching flanges 49 on the liner 32; and the covering frame ofinsulating strip 5| may be exactly the same with regard to the dooropening 4| as was described for the door opening 42.

In order to provide space for the motor compressor and condenser theside walls 38 and 39 of the outer shell 3| may extend downwardly belowthe bottom wall 36 of the cabinet, andmay have inwardly turned flanges51 providing a stable lower supporting surface for the cabinehjb whichthere is a channel-shaped space 58 *lor receiving the condenser I I.Condenser f|| may be tilted so that air passing into the front of thespace 58 must pass over some part of the condenser coils which'arearranged in advance of.

the motor compressor Ill. The shell 3| may be provided with a partiallyspherical recess 59 at its lower rear corner for providing some spacefor the motor compressor l0, which is located half way inside thecabinet wall and half way outside.

Thus the recess 59 slopes upward and hot air which comes from contactwith the motor compressor housing Ill tends to move upward out of therecess 59, drawing with it the air which comes into the channel space 58below the cabinet and which passes over the condenser H which, ofcourse, is provided with suitable fins 60.

Referring now to the lower compartment l6,

amuse the pipe if from the float valve chamber i2 preferably extendsupwardly just inside the liner 33, and is then directed in sinuousfashion in substantially horizontal portions, but always extendingdownward slightly across the back wall 46 about the corner, and acrossthe side wall ll where it is bent backwardly with a U-turn of the typeshown at 62, and thereafter the coils of the evaporator l3'extend backand forth and downwardly until the rear wall and side walls aresubstantially covered with sinuous coils.

At the lower end 83 of these coils the pipe extends over the bottomwall- 45 where it is arranged in similar sinuous fashion, as indicatedat 64, in heat conducting contacting engagement with the outside of thebottom wall I! of liner 33. From these coils there is a vertical pipe 63extending upwardly close to the outside of liner 33 to the outside ofthe top wall 44 where the coils 66 are arranged in similar sinuousfashion on the top wall.

Thence the pipe 61 passes backwardly in the partition 68 and upwardly inthe insulation of -the back wall between liner 32 and shell 3| to thespring pressed differential valve i3, which may be located inside theinsulation. Thence the pipe i9 passes through the rear wall 34 of liner32 to the bottom of the second primary evaporator M, which is arrangedin the sinuous fashion extending in the plane parallel to the rear wall54 and slightly spaced therefrom, and terminating at the top in theheader or reservoir 2|.

Like the coils of evaporator i3 are arranged around the liner 33, thecoils of secondary evaporator 26 are arranged around the outside ofliner 32 and connected by conduits with the single U- shaped condensercoil 21 of the secondary evaporator, that is preferably arranged in heatconducting contact with the primary coils ll.

The amount of cooling which is accomplished by the secondary system,comprising the condenser 21 and evaporator 26, is limited by the size ofthe condenser 21, and although the dehydration coil H which cools thecondenser 21 may be extremely cold, such as below zero, being thecoldest coil in the system, the upper chamber 25 is, nevertheless,maintained at a temperature above the freezing point of water.

The primary evaporator i4 is preferably covered with a suitable shield'63, either or both ends of which may be closed to limit the contact ofthe air with the coil i4, and a trough 13 may be pro- .videdbelow thecoil drippage which is conducted to a suitable receptacle 1i supportedon a bracket or shelf 12.

The cabinet is, of course, provided with suitable doors.

The operation of the system is as follows: The refrigerant is pumpedfrom the evaporator receiver 2| in the form of vapor and compressed bythe motor compressor ill and discharged into the condenser H where it iscondensed to liquid. The flow of this liquid is controlled by the floatchamber i2, which prevents the back flow of H in position to receive allrefrigerant during the oil-periods of the motor .5

compressor.

The motor compressor may be controlled responsive to the operation of athermostatic switch located in the lower or freezing chamber it so thatwhenever there is a demand for cooling in the lower chamber the motorcompressor I0 is operated.

The characteristics of the two evaporators l3 and i4 and the secondarysystem 26 and 21 are such that when the lower freezing chamber is.

6 4 adequately cooled the upper high-humidity chamber 23 is maintainedat a temperature above freezing point.

By adjusting the spring pressed differential valve ii the suctionapplied to evaporator I, as compared to evaporator i 3, can be adjustedat will, and the coil i4 is preferably made the colder coil operating ata temperature below freezing andpreferably below zero so that itpresents the coldest surface cabinet.

Thus the secondary condenser 21 receives adequate cooling although it isonly of limited size while the coil i4 is cold enough to condensemoisture which travels to it from all parts of the cabinet. includingthe insulation between the shells. The moisture can between the shellsat the some embodiments of the invention, suitably located holes 9 maybe provided in both compart-- ment liner walls. Holes 9 in the storagecompartment should preferably be behind or adjacent to the coil H effecta continuous defrosting of the insulation,

and of the lower compartment. -As the upper compartment is operated at atemperature above interfering with the refrigeration of the lowerfreezing chamber I6 where food may be frozen at any time or frozen foodstored in this chamber may be kept continuously at a temperature belowfreezing. 1

' The defrosting of the coil I4 is accomplished by opening the valve 24,by-passing the coil l4 directly from the evaporator I 3 to the receiver2|. The evaporator coil i4 will then take on heat from the chamber 25and the condenser 21, and the frost will be melted into the trough 10and deposited into the receptacle 1i. As soon as the defrosting isaccomplished the valve 24 should be closed again. i

It will thus be observed that I have invented an improved system inwhich continuous dehydration of the insulation may be accomplished by'means of a special evaporator coil operated at the lowest temperature ofany coil in the cabinet so that even moisture which may be initiallydeposited upon some other cold surface, will eventually find its way tothis dehydration coil.

The same evaporator which accomplishes a predetermined dehydration ofthe upper chamber is also used for maintaining this chamber at a coolingtemperature above freezing, and the frost which is regularly coil may beremoved by defrosting, which is accomplished by means of a bypassconduit and a valve.

The present refrigeration system is simple and involves a minimum amountof mechanism, which occupies a minimum space, so that a maximum amountof space is left for the storage of food.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, manymodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details ofconstruction set forth, but desire the appended claims.

that exists anywhere in the:

pass out of the space breaker strip, or, in

for the greatest. effect. Moisture may thus travel from all parts of thecabinet to deposited on this dehydration I Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States is:

1. In a refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet provided with anouter shell and a pair of inner liners carried by said outer shell andinsulated from the outer shell by means of suitable insulation, the saidliners forming a freezing chamber and a food storage chamber, a primaryevaporator in heat conducting relation with the liner of said freezingchamber, a secondary system including a secondary evaporator in heatconducting contact with the liner of said storage chamber, saidsecondary system including a condenser chamber, a second primaryevaporator located inside said outer shell and in heat conduct- .ingengagement with said condenser of said secondary system, said secondprimary evaporator being operated at a lower temperature than saidfirst-mentioned primary evaporator, the space between the inner linersand outer shell being in air communication with each other throughpredetermined leakage points connecting said spaces, so that the secondprimary evaporator is adapted to effect a predetermined dehydration ofthe insulation and of the liner of said freezing compartment.

2. In a refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet provided with anouter shell and a pair of inner liners carried by said outer shell andinsulated from the outer shell by means of suitable insulation, the saidliners forming a freezing chamber and a food storage chamber, a primaryevaporator in heat conducting relation with the liner of said freezingchamber, a secondary system including a secondary evaporator in heatconducting contact with the liner of said storage chamber, saidsecondary system including a com denser, a secondary primary evaporatorlocated inside said outer shell and in heat conducting engagement withsaid condenser of said secondary system, said second primary evaporatorbeing operated at a lower temperature than said firstmentioned primaryevaporator, the space between the inner liners and outer shell being inair communication with each other through predetermined leakage pointsconnecting said spaces, so that the second primary evaporator is adaptedto effect a predetermined dehydration of the insulation and of the linerof said freezing compart- 'ment, and means for temporarily disablingsaid second primary evaporator, whereby it may be defrosted at willwhile the refrigerator system is operating.

3. In a refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet provided with anouter shell and a pair of inner liners carried by said outer shell andinsulated from the outer shell by means of suitable insulation, the saidliners forming a freezing chamber and a food storage chamber, a primaryevaporator in heat conducting relation with the liner of said freezingchamber, a secondary system including a secondary evaporator in heatconducting contact with the linerof said storage chamber, said secondarysystem including a condenser chamber, a second primary evaporatorlocated inside said outer shell and in heat conducting engagement withsaid condenser of said secondary system, said second primary evaporatorbeing operated at a lower temperature than said first-mentioned primaryevaporator, the space between the inner liners and outer shell being inair communication with each other through predetermined leakageapointsconnecting said .m... m that the second primary evaporator amazes isadapted to effect a predetermined dehydration of the insulation and ofthe liner of said freezing compartment, and means for temporarilydisabling said second primary evaporator,'whereby it may be defrosted atwill while the refrigerator system is operating, comprising an auxiliaryconduit adapted to by-pass said second primary evaporator.

4. In a refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet provided with anouter shell and a pair of inner liners carried by said outer shell andinsulated from the outer shell by means of suitable insulation, the saidliners forming a freezing chamber and a food storage chamber, a primaryevaporator in heat conducting relation with the liner of said freezingchamber, a secondary system including a secondary evaporator in heatconducting contact with the liner of said storage chamber, saidsecondary system including a condenser chamber, a second primaryevaporator located inside said outer shell and in heat con-- ductingengagement with said condenser of said secondary system, said secondprimary evaporator being operated at a lower temperature than saidfirst-mentioned primary evaporator, the space between the inner linersand outer shell being in air communication with each other throughpredetermined leakage points connecting said spaces, so that the secondprimary evaporator is adapted to efiect a predetermined dehydration ofthe insulation and of the liner of said freezing compartment, and meansfor temporarily disabling said second primary evaporator, whereby it maybe defrosted at will while the refrigerator system is operating,comprising an auxiliary conduit adapted to by-pass said second primaryevaporator, and valve means in said conduit adapted to be opened fordefrosting and closed to render said second primary evaporatoroperative.

5. In a refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet provided with anouter shell and a pair of inner liners carried by said outer shell andinsulated from the outer shell by means of suitable insulation, the saidliners forming a freezing chamber and a food storage chamber, a primaryevaporator in heat conducting relation with the liner of said freezingchamber, a secondary system including a secondary evaporator in heatconducting contact with the liner of said storage chamber, saidsecondary system including a condenser located in said storage chamber,a second primary evaporator located in said storage chamber and in heatconducting engagement with said condenser of said secondary system, saidsecond primary evaporator being operated at a lower temperature thansaid first-mentioned primary evaporator, moisture in the insulationhaving access to the compartment in which the first primary evaporatoris located, in predetermined leakage points leading to the space betweenthe outer shell and theinner liners for each compartment whereby thesecond primary evaporator is adapted to effect a predetermineddehydration 'of the insulation and of the liner of said freezingcompartment, and means for temporarily disabling-said second primaryevaporator, whereby it maybe defrosted at will while the refrigeratorsystem is operating, and means in saidstorage chamber for collecting theliquid resulting from the defrosting from said second primary evapora 6.In a refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet provided with ahigh-humidity compartment and a freezing compartment, an evaporator forcooling said freezing compartment, an evaporator for cooling saidhigh-humidity compartment, compressing and condensing apparatus forproviding liquid refrigerant for said evaporators, one of saidevaporators being a primary evaporator and the other being a part of asecondary system and having a condenser in heat exchange relation with asecond primary evaporator disposed inside said cabinet, and means formaintaining a pressure differential between said primary evaporators thespace between the two compartments and the cabinet and the spaces insidethe two compartments being in air communication with each other throughpredetermined leakage points connecting said spaces so that the secondprimary evaporator is maintained at a temperature below that of thefirst primary evaporator to act as a dehydration coll for the spaceinside the said cabinet.

7. In a refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet provided with ahigh-humidity compartment and a freezing compartment, an evaporator forcooling said freezing compartment, an evaporator for cooling saidhigh-humidity compartment, compressing and condensing apparatus forproviding liquidrefrigerant for said evaporators, one of saidevaporators being a primary evaporator and the other being a part oi' asecondary system and having a condenser in heat exchange relation with asecond primary evaporator disposed in one of said compartments,'andmeans for maintaining a pressure differential between said primaryevaporators whereby the second primary evaporator is maintained at atemperature below that of the first primary evaporator to act as adehydration coil for the compartment in which the primary evaporator islocated, and for the insulation and other compartment, the moisturehaving access to the compartments at a predetermined leakage pointleading to the space between an outer shell and an inner liner for eachcompartment.

8. In a refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet provided with ahigh-humidity compartment and a freezing compartment, an evaporator forcooling said freezing compartment, an evaporator for cooling saidhigh-humidity compartment, compressing and condensing apparatus forproviding liquid refrigerant for said evaporators, one of saidevaporators being a primary evaporator and the other being a part of asecondary system and having a condenser in heat exchange relation with asecond primary evaporator disposed in one of said compartments, andmeans for maintaining a pressure differential between said primaryevaporators whereby the second primary evaporator is maintained at atemperature below that of the first primary evaporator to act as adehydration coil for the compartment in which the primary evaporator islocated, and for the insulation and other compartments, the moisturehaving access to the compartments at a predetermined leakage pointleading to the space between an outer shell and an inner liner for eachcompartment, and means for effecting a defrosting of the secondaryprimary evaporator while. the first-mentioned primary evaporator isstill in operating condition.

9. In a refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet provided with ahigh-humidity compartment and a freezing compartment, an evaporator forcooling said freezing compartment, an evaporator for cooling saidhigh-humidity compartment, compressing and condensing apparatus forproviding liquid refrigerant for said evaporators,

- of the first primary evaporator to act as a dehydration coil for thecompartment in which the primary evaporator is located, and for theinsulation and other compartments, the moisture having, access to thecompartments at a predetermined leakage point leading to the spacebetween an outer shell and an inner liner for each compartment, andmeans for effecting a defrosting of the second primary evaporator whilethe firstmentioned primary evaporator is still in operating condition,comprising an auxiliary by-pass conduit for by-passing the secondprimary evaporator.

' 10. In a refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet provided with ahigh-humidity compartment and a freezing compartment, an evaporator forcooling said freezing compartment, an evaporator for cooling saidhigh-humidity compartment, compressing and condensing apparatus forproviding liquid refrigerant for said evaporators, one of saidevaporators being a primary evaporator and the other being a part of asecondary system and having a condenser in heat exchange relation with asecond primary evaporator disposed in one of said compartments, andmeans for main-- taining a pressure differential between said primaryevaporators whereby the second primary evaporator is maintained at atemperature below that of the first primary evaporator to act as adehydration coil for the compartment in which the primary evaporator islocated, and for the insulation and other compartments, the moisturehaving access to the compartments at a predetermined leakage pointleading to the space between an outer shell and an inner liner for eachcompartment, and means for effecting a defrosting of the second primaryevaporator while the firstmentioned primary evaporator is still inoperating condition, comprising an auxiliary bypass conduit forby-passing the second primary evaporator and said means for maintaininga pressure differential.

11 In a refrigerator, the combination of a cabinet provided with ahigh-humidity compartment and a freezing compartment, an evaporator forcooling said freezing compartment, an evaporator for cooling saidhigh-humidity compartment, compressing and condensing apparatus forproviding liquid refrigerant for said evaporators, one of saidevaporators being a primary evaporator and the other being a part of asecondary system and having a condenser in heat exchange relation with asecond primary evaporator disposed in one of said compartments, andmeans for maintaining a pressure differential between said primaryevaporators whereby the second primary evaporator is maintained at atemperature below that of the first primary evaporator to act as adehydration coil for the compartment in which the primary evaporator islocated, and for the insulation and other compartments, the moisturehaving access to the compartments at a predetermined leakage pointleading to the space between an outer shell and an inner liner for eachcompartment, and means for effecting a defrosting of one the secondprimary evaporator while the firstand said means for maintaining apressure differential, and valve means in said auxiliary conduitmanually operable to effect said defrosting.

said third evaporator being located in one of the compartments anddrawing to it the moisture 12. In a refrigerator, the combination of are- 4 frigerator cabinet having an outer metal shell of substantiallyrectangular form in plan and elevation, said shell being formed with aforwardly and rearwardly open channel and with an upwardly taperedrecess communicating with said channel and opening at the rear of thecabinet, a motor compressor unit located in said recess and having acondenser tilted across said channel forwardly of said motor compressor,said motor compressor projecting rearwardly out of the shell and causingupward currents of air which draw the air through the channel over thecondenser, a pair of inner liners supported from the outer shell andinsulated from the outer shell and having'predetermined air accessopenings from the inside of the liners to the space between the linersand the shell, fibrous insulation located in the insulation spacebetween the liners and between the liners and shell, an evaporator forcooling each of the chambers formed by said liners, and a thirdevaporator maintained at a temperature colder than any of theevaporators, said third evaporator being located in one of thecompartments and drawing to it the moisture from the insulation spaceand from said compartments to produce a predetermined humidity in thecompartments.

13. In a refrigerator, the combination of a refrigerator cabinet havingan outer metal shell of substantially rectangular form in plan andelevation, said shell being formed with a forwardly and rearwardly openchannel and with an upwardly tapered recess communicating with saidchannel and opening at the rear of the cabinet, a motor compressor unitlocated in said recess and having a condenser tilted across said channelforwardly of said motor compressor, said motor compressor projectingrearwardly out of the shell and causing upward currents of air whichdraw the air through the channel over the condenser, a pair of innerliners supported from the outer shell and insulated from the outer shelland having predetermined air access openings from the inside of theliners to the space between the liners and the shell, fibrous insulationlocated in the insulation space between the liners and between theliners and shell, an evaporator for cooling each of the chambers formedby said liners, and a third evaporator maintained at a temperaturecolder than any of the evaporators,

from the insulation space and from said compartments to produce apredetermined humidity in the compartments, and means for disabling thecoldest evaporator only at will whereby the coldest evaporator may bedefrosted while the other evaporators are maintained in operation.

14. In a refrigerator, the combination of a refrigerator cabinet havingan outer metal shell of substantially rectangular form in plan andelevation, said shell being formed with a forwardly and rearwardly openchannel and with an upwardly tapered recess communicating with saidchannel and opening at the rear of the cabinet, a motor compressor unitlocated in said recess and having a condenser tilted across said channelforwardly of said motor compressor, said motor compressor projectingrearwardly out of the shell and causing upward currents of air whichdraw the air through the channel over the condenser. a pair of innerliners supported from the outer shell and insulated from the outer shelland having predetermined air access openings from the inside of theliners to the space between the liners and the shell, fibrous insulationlocated in the insulation space between the liners and between theliners and shell, an evaporator for cooling each of the chambers formedby said liners. and a third evaporator maintained at a temperaturecolder than any of the evaporators, said third evaporator being locatedin one of the compartments and drawing to it the moisture from theinsulation space and from said compartments to produce a predeterminedhumidity in the compartments, and means for disabling the coldestevaporator only at will whereby the coldest evaporator may be defrostedwhile the other evaporators are maintained in operation, said meanscomprising a by-pass conduit short circuiting the coldest evaporator andhaving a normally closed valve in said conduit, the valve being openedto accomplish the defrosting.

WILLIAM E. RICHARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

